28 July 2014

28 July 2014 - Laura Cantrell - All The Girls Are Complicated

I know it is quite strange that such a fantastic artist such as Laura Cantrell, who has drawn comparisons to the great Lucinda Williams and Nanci Griffith, would be featured on THIS blog. But hear me out.

I fell in love with Laura's music when listening to an episode of Mountain Stage. Mountain Stage, for those who don't know, is a weekly 2-hour live music radio show from West Virginia, and it attracts big-time artists. She did a lot of old-timey covers - I remember hearing her version of "When The Roses Bloom Again", which she thought was a Woody Guthrie song when she found it. I've written about this song before - and just loved the old-timey Americana country feel to her music. It was something I wasn't hearing anymore in country music.

Earlier this year, Laura released a new album. She went to Nashville (and not her current New York home) to record it. This song, the opener on the album, does not have the Americana country feel of her earlier work. It almost feels (gasp!) poppy. The whole album is like that, and it's fun. I love her covers, but it's nice to hear original music as well.

A special treat today: Not only do I have a performance of this fun song - from this year's SxSW - but NPR has a free download of it. You can grab that here.

By the way, if you are in the Columbus, OH area, and you happen to see this on the day I publish it, go see Laura - she's opening for Camera Obscura tonight. (I wish I was)